The Official Site of Sugar Ray Robinson Although this charismatic boxer was born Walker Smith Jr., he is best remembered as "Sugar" Ray Robinson. Born on May 3, 1921 in Ailey, Georgia, his parents moved the family to New York when Sugar Ray was a teenager to escape the prevalent prejudice in the South. It was there, in a Harlem gym, that he was first introduced to boxing. Sugar Ray visited the gym frequently, using a borrowed Amateur Athletic Union boxing card of a friend. The friend's name, incidentally, was Ray Robinson. His natural talent in the ring began to draw attention, and soon crowds gathered to watch Sugar Ray perform. When future coach George Gainford watched him box for the first time, Gainford commented that the young boxer's style and fluid motions were "sweet as sugar." Others agreed, and the nickname stuck. After winning the New York Golden Gloves championship in 1940, 19-year-old Sugar Ray turned pro and never looked back. By 1946, Sugar Ray was the world welterweight champion. His reign included a 91 fight winning-streak.

He held the title for five years, and then moved onto acquiring the world middleweight title, which he held five times between 1951-1960. A dominant force in the boxing ring for two decades, Sugar Ray was 38 when he won his last middleweight title. In the mid-1960s, Sugar Ray exited the ring gracefully. "No beefs, George," he told his coach. "Sometimes we got the best of it in the past." Sugar Ray's record was 128-1-2 with 84 knockouts at the pinnacle of his career. Amazingly, in over 200 fights, Sugar Ray was never physically knocked out (though he did receive one technical KO). Altogether, he amassed 109 KOs, and finished with a record of 175-19-6 with two no-decisions.

World champion Muhammad Ali called him "the king, the master, my idol." In 1997, The Ring magazine named Sugar Ray "pound for pound, the best boxer of all time." More recently, in 1999, the Associated Press named him both the greatest welterweight and middleweight boxer of the century. Sugar Ray Robinson - Highlights Sweet As Sugar ᴴᴰ - YouTube Sugar Ray Robinson - Highlights Sweet As Sugar ᴴᴰ Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Dec 20, 2012 For amazing boxing art check out my friend My Facebook A Tribute dedicated to Walker Smith Jr better known as Sugar Ray Robinson who in many peoples eyes was the greatest boxer of all time.

Check out my friend's book on Amazon Song Used: Ludovico Einaudi - Lady Labyrinth Category Sugar Ray Robinson facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Sugar Ray Robinson Sources It is a testament to Sugar Ray Robinson’s greatness as a boxer that when people discuss who was the greatest boxer of all-time, pound-for-pound, not only is no one else usually picked, but rarely is anyone else even considered. Robinson dominated first the welterweight and then the middleweight divisions at a time when boxing’s popularity was at its peak, and his skills were so widely admired that famed boxing writer Bert Sugar once wrote that being knocked out by Robinson “was more of an honor than a disgrace.” Robinson was born Walker Smith, Jr. on May 3, 1921 in Detroit . He grew up poor in the Black Bottom section of that city. In 1932 his father, Walker Sr., and his mother Leila were divorced, and the elder Walker left the family. Leila took Ray and his sisters to New York , where she looked for work. Young Walker had tried boxing at the Brewster gym back in Detroit, and he pursued the sport in earnest once in New York.

His manager, George Gainford, ran the gym Smith trained at as an amateur, and remembered the first time Smith came to his gym. “I told Smitty he was too young to fight,” he recalled in Harry Carpenter’s book, Masters of Boxing “Besides, he said his ma would kill him if he got mixed up with the fight game. So I chased him away from the gym, back to delivering groceries and dancing for dimes. But he turned up again. I took him into my home, taught him a few tricks and let him stay around when I took my team round the clubs.… I smacked him down more than once. Smitty deserved his breaks, though. In those days he had nothing.” “As Sweet As Sugar” A turning point in the legend of Sugar Ray Robinson came one night in Kingston, New York, when Smith was 15. Gainford was short one boxer for a show, and decided to use Smith. Since New York state law forbade anyone under the age of 16 to box, however, Smith needed fake credentials. Gainford happened to have in his pocket the fight card of one Ray Robinson.

Smith fought under that name that night, and he would never be known as anything else for the rest of his career. The rest of his name was coined in Watertown, New York, when a reporter observed to Gainford that Robinson was “as sweet as sugar,” the trainer concurred. The fighter was briefly known as Ray (Sugar) Robinson, until it was decided Sugar Ray sounded better. At a Glance… Born Walker Smith, Jr., May 3, 1921, in Detroit, Ml; son of Walker Smith, Sr. and Leila Smith. Married three times: second wife Edna M. Holly, from 1943-60; third wife Millie Johnson, from 1965-89. Died April 12, J 1989. Career: Professional boxer, 1940-65. Welterweight world champion, 1946-51; middleweight world champion five times, 1951, 1951-52, 1955, 1957, 1958-60.

Inducted to Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Robinson won the New York Golden Gloves championship at featherweight (126 pounds) in 1939 and lightweight (135 pounds) in 1940. Some historians claim he was never beaten as an amateur, although others say he lost twice. On October 4, 1940, Robinson turned professional with a bout at Madison Square Garden. The 19-year old stopped a fighter named Joe Echevarría in the second round, and his winning streak extended through the first 40 fights and 28 months of his professional career. Twenty-nine of those early victims failed to go the distance with Robinson, including world-ranked welterweights such as Pete Lello, Fritzie Zivic, Norman Rubio, Tony Motisi and Izzy Jannazzo. Robinson’s first professional winning streak came to a close, and one of his most lasting rivalries was born, on February 5, 1943 in Detroit. He lost a 10-round decision to Jake LaMotta, a fighter he had beaten the previous fall in another 10-round decision in New York.

Three weeks after losing to LaMotta, Robinson beat him in another rematch in Detroit. The second fight between the two was the only one of six LaMotta would ever win, but his status as the first fighter ever to beat Robinson was a major facet of his reputation for years to come. The LaMotta-Robinson series has gone down in history as one of the sport’s great rivalries. Robinson fought at a pace that would be unheard of today. It was not unusual for him to fight twice within the span of a week, and in 1941 alone he fought an amazing 20 times, including two fights in August just two days apart. His schedule slowed in 1943, when he had just six fights, and ground to a halt in late summer, when he began a stint in the U.S. Army. The first bit of controversy in Robinson’s career stemmed from that army hitch. The army was letting high-profile boxers, most notably Joe Louis, avoid combat duty by fighting exhibition bouts for troops overseas. When Robinson’s boxing unit set sail, however, he did not show up.

He was awarded an honorary discharge, and later claimed to have fallen down a flight of stairs and suffered amnesia, but some in the press held a grudge against Robinson long afterward. Wins First World Title Robinson resumed his busy fight schedule in the fall of 1944, and built another win streak, winning five fights before that year was out, nine in 1945 and 16 in 1946. It was in the last fight in 1946 in which Robinson won his first world title. He had run his record to 74-1 by the time the National Boxing Association (the forerunner of the present-day World Boxing Association) granted him a fight against Tommy Bell for the vacant world welterweight championship. Robinson won the fight on a 15-round decision and his days as a champion boxer had begun. Robinson stayed fit with four non-title bouts early in 1947, then put his title on the line for the first time against Jimmy Doyle on June 24. In what sounds like legend but is actually fact, Robinson dreamed the night before the fight that he would kill Doyle with a left hook.

Robinson was shaken by the dream and tried to pull out of the fight, but the promoters called in a Catholic priest to reassure him that his worries were unwarranted and that he must go through with the fight. In the eighth round, just as in the dream, Robinson hit Doyle with a devastating left hook. Doyle was carried from the ring on a stretcher and died the next day without ever regaining consciousness. At the coroner’s inquest Robinson was asked if he knew Doyle was hurt, and he replied, as quoted by Carpenter, “It’s my business to keep fighters in trouble when they’re hurt.” Leila Smith later said she believed her son was traumatized throughout his life by the incident. Robinson did not let the tragedy slow him down, however, and he won five more fights, all by knockout, before the year was over. One was a title defense against Chuck Taylor, and he won five more fights and one more title defense in 1948. He fought 13 times in 1949, gaining 12 wins and a draw—the draw coming in a non-title bout with Henry Brimm—and won his only title defense that year against Kid Gavilán in Philadelphia.

He stepped up the pace in 1950, fighting 19 bouts and winning them all, including a title defense against Charley Fusari. In 1950 Robinson made another career move, moving up to middleweight and winning the Pennsylvania middleweight title. He defended that title twice, never going to the full middleweight limit of 160 pounds, but hovering around the mid-150s and fighting larger men, something Robinson was never afraid to do. In November and December he held his first tour of Europe , something that sounds odd today when fighters rarely box more than four or five times in a year. He won non-title fights in France , Belgium , Switzerland , and Germany , before setting his sights on the world middleweight title. To win that prize Robinson needed to reacquaint himself with an old rival. He had already beaten Jake LaMotta four times in five fights, but since they had last fought over five years earlier, LaMotta had gone on to win the NBA middleweight title. Their fight on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1951, was their sixth meeting, but the first in which a crown was at stake.

Robinson gradually took control over the first half of the fight, and over the last several rounds he pounded LaMotta with one of the most savage beatings in the history of the sport until the doctor at ringside called for the fight to be halted in the 13th round. Because the fight had been held in Chicago , the boxing writers who were there decreed the fight “another Valentine’s Day Massacre.” The fight was recreated in the 1980 Martin Scorcese film bio of LaMotta, “Raging Bull,” with Robert DeNiro as LaMotta, following Robinson around the ring after the fight’s conclusion taunting, “You never got me down, Ray. You never got me down.” The win marked the end of Robinson’s reign as the welterweight champion, what some have called his prime period, but started a longer career in the middleweight ranks. A Change of Weight Class Robinson’s career could not have come at a better time in history for him to be a big star. Before World War II and since Vietnam boxing was not widely popular, and widespread attention was usually only granted to contenders in the heavyweight division.

But from the late 1940s until the mid 1960s boxing, an easy sport to televise, was a staple on prime-time television, sometimes being broadcast as many as four times a week. With so much boxing being televised, weight classes below heavyweight necessarily had to receive more exposure, and during the heyday of televised boxing Sugar Ray Robinson was one of the sport’s top stars. Before defending his middleweight title in 1951, Robinson made another tour of Europe, and won all his bouts except for one in Germany. He almost started a riot by knocking out German hero Gerhard Hecht, allegedly with kidney punches, a punch that was legal in the United States but not in Europe. He was initially disqualified, and had to hide under the ring when angry fans began pelting him with bottles. It was later discovered that Hecht had a broken rib, though, and the decision was changed to a no-contest. His last fight on the tour was a title defense against Randy Turpin in London, and an unprepared Robinson lost his title on a 15-round decision.

Carpenter remembered Robinson explaining, “I was never hit with so many jabs in my life and I couldn’t do a thing about it. I was sold out because of the travelling. My eyes were tired and couldn’t focus properly.” Two months later a better-prepared Robinson fought a rematch against Turpin, and he regained the title before 60,000 fans at New York’s Polo Grounds when he knocked Turpin out with one of his classic left hooks. Robinson took a year off from non-title fights in 1952, fighting only three times and defending his title against two strong challengers, Bobo Olson and Rocky Graziano. Then, on June 25, he fought what many fans consider to be one of his best fights, a fight he actually lost, for Joey Maxim’s light-heavyweight title. Robinson made no attempt to bulk up to the light-heavyweight limit of 175 pounds, fighting instead at his natural weight of 157 and giving away almost 20 pounds. The fight was held on the hottest night of the year in New York City. It was 104 degrees at ringside, and about 140 degrees under the ring lights.

Spectators were passing out in the crowd. Robinson outboxed the bigger, stronger man every step of the way, and was far ahead on all the scorecards, needing only to finish the fight to become the third man in boxing history (along with Henry Armstrong and Bob Fitzsimmons) to win the title in three weight classes. The heat took its toll, though, and Maxim wore Robinson down by leaning on him with his greater weight throughout the fight. Even referee Ruby Goldstein suffered heat exhaustion and had to be replaced after the 10th round, but Robinson stayed strong—until the 13th round. Then he tired visibly and at one point in the round, when Maxim stepped back away from a Robinson hook, Robinson fell right to the canvas on his follow-through. At the end of the round Robinson was almost delirious and had to be helped back to his corner by his handlers, who tried frantically to revive him for the last two rounds. When the bell sounded for the start of the 14th, however, Robinson could not stand up, and his only fight for the light-heavyweight title went down in history as a near-miss.

It was also the only fight of his career in which he failed to complete the match. A Fighter in His Prime Winning his third title was the last real goal Robinson had left. Carpenter quoted him as saying prior to the Maxim fight, “The papers say I do everything for Ray Robinson first. That could be. I see a lot of bad in boxing. I see a lot of fighters finished and broke. I don’t want that for me. I want to come out with money. I don’t want to keep fighting like Joe Louis. “After losing to Maxim, Robinson said goodbye to boxing, and started a career as a song-and-dance man. Some say Robinson’s reputation would be even greater than it is today if he had stayed retired, but between bad business investments, tax problems and extravagant spending habits, he was faced with no other choice by 1955 than to return to boxing. After his return to boxing, Robinson was never again the unbeatable force he had been during his prime, but he still had some of his most memorable fights during this period.

After winning five of six fights during the early part of 1955, Robinson was given a shot against the middleweight champ, whom he had beaten for the title in 1952. This time he knocked Bobo Olson out in the second round, and again in a rematch early in 1956. Robinson now held the middleweight title for the third time. Robinson was often resented by his contemporaries for defending his interests at the bargaining table as determinedly as he defended his titles in the ring. Since early in his career he had earned a reputation as a ruthless businessman, and many fighters whose careers would have been well-served by a fight with Robinson were frustrated that he refused to sign to fight anyone who would not agree to terms that were heavily lopsided in Robinson’s favor. It was not only fighters who found Robinson a formidable opponent in money disputes. Even the rule that allows federal income taxes to be computed based on average earnings over a number of years sprang from a confrontation between Robinson and the Internal Revenue Service. But as champion Robinson was especially aggressive in pursuing his own financial interests.

A typical Robinson fight contract dictated that Robinson got the much larger portion of the gate and most or all of the money from television. It also dictated that if the challenger won, he had to give Robinson a rematch with his next fight and Robinson would get most of the money from that fight, too. It was that contractually mandated rematch which would serve him the best in the late 1950s. On the second day of 1957 Robinson lost his title on a decision to Gene Fullmer, a Mormon from Utah . On the first day of May that year, however, the two met again, and Robinson regained his title with a fifth-round knockout on which many boxing historians consider his best-ever punch. A left hook that came from nowhere landed flush on Fullmer’s jaw and sent him staggering backwards toward the canvas, then left him futilely trying to drag himself back to his feet. Fullmer said in an interview years later that he did not even know he’d been knocked out until his cornermen told him as he sat on his stool some minutes later. Robinson now held the title for the fourth time. In September of that year, Robinson lost his title on a decision to the great fighter Carmen Basilio.

Basilio harbored a great deal of dislike for Robinson, and the two had a true rivalry by the time they met in their rematch on March 25, 1958. Many observers of the fight game thought this was the night when Robinson would truly look his age, and Basilio would finish off the old champ’s career as a viable contender once and for all. But Basilio was troubled from about the sixth round on with a badly swollen eye, and Robinson won a brutal fight with a 15-round decision. He had to be carried from the ring to the dressing room, from the dressing room to his Cadillac, and from the car to his hotel room, but he had won the middleweight championship for a fifth time. Retirement Stopped by Money Problems Robinson was nearing 40 now, but he still could not afford to retire from boxing. Part of it was because of his back taxes. But Robinson had also become accustomed to a fairly extravagant lifestyle, which had also become a defining aspect of his image.

He had bought for himself over the years a bar, three Harlem apartment buildings, a cleaning and dyeing shop, and a lingerie shop (the latter for his wife—the former Edna Mae Holly, to whom he was married from 1943-60; he had been married briefly to another woman as a teenager, but details are sketchy). The traveling entourage for Robinson consisted of his wife; Gainford, his manager; a male secretary; three trainers; a golf pro; a personal barber; an odd-job man; a chauffeur; and a midget court jester. They carried 100 pieces of luggage among them, and it cost about $3,000 a week to support the lot of them. Robinson had tried to protect his public image early in his career, donating portions of, and sometimes whole purses, to charity, including Jimmy Doyle’s widow, but as his career progressed he became increasingly unconcerned about his reputation where money was involved. The New York Times Book of Sports Legends recalled Robinson saying, “I went through $4 million, but I have no regrets. If I had the chance to do it over again, I’d do it the same way.

I didn’t gamble away my money. I used it to help people live. I took my family and my friends on trips with me. I loaned it to strangers to pay their bills, and sometimes I didn’t get it back.” Robinson went into a period of inactivity in 1959, fighting only one tune-up fight in December. The NBA stripped Robinson of his title for not defending it, but other jurisdictions continued to recognize him as the champion until he lost that distinction to Paul Pender in Boston in January 1960. He had, of course, written a rematch clause into his contract for the fight, but in June he lost that fight as well. In December he fought for the NBA title, but Fullmer retained that title on a draw. There was one last attempt at Fullmer’s championship the following year, but the champ kept his title on a decision, and Robinson, despite fighting 46 more times over the next five years, never again fought for the world championship. He finally retired in 1965 with a career record of 175 wins, 19 defeats, six draws and two no-contests.

That same year Robinson married his third wife, the former Millie Wiggins Bruce, who was several years older than he was. They lived in Los Angeles , where Ray established the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation, an organization that funded and organized recreational activities for young people. Ray continued to work out until the mid 1970s, when his age began to take its toll. In the late 1970s a young fighter named Ray Leonard began using the old “Sugar Ray” nickname; some close to Robinson speculated that he must have resented the young fighter usurping his moniker, but for the record, at least, Robinson gave Leonard his blessing. In the 1980s, as Alzheimer’s Disease, a common malady among boxers with long careers, took hold of Robinson, Millie’s side of the family took control of the youth foundation. Family members, such as Ray’s mother and son (Ray Jr., whom he had with Edna Mae), expressed distrust of Millie and resentment at her refusal to let anyone, even them, see Ray.

For her part, she insisted that the two of them were proud people and that as his wife it was her responsibility to protect him and keep anyone from seeing him in his compromised and vulnerable condition. Ray died on April 12, 1989. In 1997, as part of its 75th anniversary, Ring magazine picked the best fighter pound-for-pound of the last 75 years. The three finalists were Robinson, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali. Robinson was picked as the winner, which came as no surprise to anyone. Louis had said decades earlier that he thought Robinson was the greatest fighter in the world, and Ali had said in 1975, as quoted in African-American Sports Greats, “I believe I am the greatest heavyweight of all time, but Ray Robinson was the greatest fighter of all time.” Nearly sixty years after he first put on the gloves, Sugar Ray Robinson was still the sweetest. Sources Books African-American Sports Greats: A Biographical Dictionary, edited by David L. Porter, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 286. The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book, by James B.

Roberts and Alexander G. Skutt, Ithaca, NY: McBooks Press, 1997, p. 358. The Encyclopedia of Boxing, compiled by Maurice Goldsworthy, p. 171. Masters of Boxing, by Harry Carpenter, p. 51. The New York Times Book of Sports Legends, edited by Joseph J. Vecchione, New York: Random House, 1991, p. 264. Periodicals Sports Illustrated, July 13, 1987, p. 70; April 24, 1989, p. 96. —Mike Eggert Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. MLA Sugar Ray Robinson - Highlights Sweet As Sugar ᴴᴰ :: WikiBit.me Sugar Ray Robinson - Highlights Sweet As Sugar ᴴᴰ For amazing boxing art check out my friend My Twitter My Facebook A Tribute dedicated to Walker Smith Jr better known as Sugar Ray Robinson who in many peoples eyes was the greatest boxer of all time.

Check out my friend's book on Amazon Song Used: Ludovico Einaudi - Lady Labyrinth Date: 21.12.2012 Most Famous Boxers – List of Famous Boxers in History Nationality: American Known For: First African American to be the world heavyweight boxing champion. Nicknamed the “Galveston Giant,” Jack Johnson was widely considered to be the most famous African American on the planet for more than a decade as he dominated the world of boxing. Notably, Johnson had his success during the time period when Jim Crow laws were still in effect. In fact, both of his parents had been slaves. Racism ran deep at that time and when Johnson became world heavyweight boxing champion, many whites were furious. Nationality: American Known For: Holding the world heavyweight boxing champion title 1919 through 1926 Jack Dempsey was known as “The Manasa Mauler” and was celebrated for his offensive style and powerful blows. Of his 65 recorded wins in the ring, 51 were by knockout. Dempsey was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. His fights drew in large crowds, often setting attendance records.

Additionally, The Associated Press named Dempsey as being the best boxer to fight during the span of 1900 to 1950. Nationality: American Known For: Being the world heavyweight champion for almost 12 years (longest in history). Called the “Brown Bomber,” Joe Louis successfully defended his world heavyweight championship title 25 times. He was known as being a very generous and kind man – even donating his winnings twice to military rellief during World War II. In 1982 Louis was posthumously honored with the Congressional Gold Medal. He was later named a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Nationality: American Known For: Often argued to be the greatest boxer of all time. Originally named Walker Smith Jr., Sugar Ray Robinson got his name after using the Amateur Athletic Union card of a fellow boxer named Ray Robinson. After becoming pro in 1940, he won his first 40 bouts in a row. He had an astonishing record of 175 wins – 110 of which were knockouts – and only 19 losses.

He even had a streak of 91 wins in a row that lasted for 8 years between 1943 and 1951. Nationality: American Known For: His legendary fights with Sugar Ray Robinson. Jake Lamotta was the inspiration behind the movie “Raging Bull” that starred Robert De Niro. He was the first boxer to ever beat Sugar Ray Robinson. He was known for being able to take a beating and still continue fighting. He was only knocked out one time in his 100-plus fight career and only lost 9 times. Nationality: American Known For: Was undefeated for his entire professional career. Rocky Marciano went 49 and 0, including 43 wins by knockout during his time spent as a professional boxer. He was not known to have an accurate punch; however, when he landed a blow it was usually devastating. Tragically, he died in a plane crash the day before his 46th birthday. Marciano was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Nationality: American Known For: Learning how to box while in jail. Charles L.

“Sonny” Liston was a gifted boxer who lived a very troubled life. Liston was known to struggle with alcohol addiction, but his physical skills still allowed him to shine in the ring. He became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the very first round. Nicknamed “The Big Bear,” Liston had a professional record of 50 – 4, with 39 knockouts. Nationality: American Known For: Being wrongfully convicted of murder and put in prison for almost two decades. Ruben “The Hurricane” Carter was known for his incredibly fast punches, but even more well-known for his struggles to be freed from prison. He and a friend were wrongfully accused of a triple homocide in June of 1966. The ensuing investigation was not conducted professionally and many believe that Carter was framed. While in prison, Carter wrote a book about his innocence entitled “The 16th Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472.” He was eventually freed in 1985. Nationality: American Known For: His outspoken ways and historic fights.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., Muhammad Ali dubbed hiimself “The Greatest.” He won an Olympic gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He later would knock out Sonny Liston in 1964 and become the world heavyweight champion. His overall professional record was 56 – 5 with 37 knockout wins. He was a part of some of the most famous fights in boxing history, including: the “Fight of the Century” against Joe Frazier and the “Rumble in the Jungle” against George Foreman. Nationality: American Known For: Holding the world heavyweight title from 1970 to 1973. Joe Frazier was a gifted boxer who started off his career as the Middle Atlantic Golden Gloves Champion for three years in a row. He won gold at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. Frazier famously fought agains Muhammad Ali in “The Thrilla in Manilla” – a match that lasted 14 rounds and was ended due to both of Frazier’s eyes swelling shut. He also was the world heavyweight champion Nationality: American Known For: Twice being the world heavyweight champion.

Known as Big George, the Punching Preacher and the Heywood Giant, George Foreman won Olympic gold at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. To date he is noted for being the oldest heavyweight champion after beating Michael Moorer for the title at age 45. Of his 76 recorded professional boxing wins, 68 were by knockout. He only had five loses in his career, with the most memorable being a loss to Muhammad Ali at “The Rumble in the Jungle.” Nationality: American Known For: Winning his first 48 professional boxing matches in a row. Larry Holmes was the sparring partner for both Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Perhaps due to this he became quite skilled in his defensive techniques. In 1978, Holmes won the World Boxing Council heavyweight title. He had an impressive record of 69 and 6 by the time he retired in 2002. Since then he has been made a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Nationality: Panamanian Known For: Winning the world championship in four separate weight classes. Nicknamed “Manos de Piedra,” or “Hands of Stone,” Roberto Duran was known for his powerful punches.

He become a professional boxer at the young age of 16. His long career left him with a final record of 103 wins and 16 losses which included 70 knockouts. His time as a professional boxer was ended after he was in a car accident that left him with a punctured lung and broken ribs. Nationality: American Known For: Being a well-known trainer after his professional career. Floyd Mayweather Sr. was a world ranked welterweight fighter in the 1970’s and 80’s. He had strong defensive skills and a solid knowledge of boxing technique. His biggest fight was against Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978 in which he lost by knockout. Mayweather Sr. has trained many successful boxers since his retirement, including Oscar De La Hoya and Chad Dawson. He also trained his son Floyd Mayweather Jr. who is currently 45 – 0 as of October, 2013. Nationality: American Known For: Holding the middleweight champion title for 7 years. Marvelous Marvin Hagler dominated the boxing world for much of the 1970’s and 1980’s.

He successfully defended his title twelve times and his 67 career wins include 52 KO’s – giving him the highest knockout percentage of any middleweight champion. He is known for having a very “tough chin,” meaning that he could take many hard punches and not be phased or knocked out easily. Nationality: American Known For: Being a world title winner in five weight classes. Sugar Ray Leonard made history by being the first boxer to make over $100 million in winnings. He was labeled the “Boxer of the Decade” in the 1980’s and defeated four future International Boxing Hall of Fame members. Additionally, he won the 1976 Montreal Olympic gold medal in the light welterweight division. Leonard ended his career when he retired in 1998 with a professional boxing record of 36-3-1 and 25 knockouts. Nationality: American Known For: He was a two time world heavyweight champion in the early 1990’s.

Evander Holyfield goes by the nicknames the “Real Deal” and “The Warrior.” Perhaps most notably, Evander Holyfield is remembered for having part of his ear bitten off by Mike Tyson in 1997. He competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and placed third, receiving the bronze medal. Nationality: Mexican Known For: Being a world lightweight champion. Sometimes referred to as “The Caesar of Boxing,” “Mr. KO” or “The Great Mexican Champion,” Julio Cesar Chavez is widely considered to be the best fighter to come out of Mexico. His record upon retirement was 116 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws. 87 of his victories came in the form of a knockout. He retained his World Boxing Council Super Featherweight title for a total of nine fights. Nationality: American Known For: Being the youngest boxer to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles. When Mike Tyson was just 20 years old he held all three major world boxing titles. He remains the sole heavyweight boxer to concurrently hold all three at titles.

After twice biting Evander Holyfield’s ears in a match in 1997 he was temporarily suspended from boxing in the United States and fined $3 million. Since retiring in 2005, “Iron Mike” Tyson has made various commercial and movie appearances. Nationality: American Known For: Having been honored as”Fighter of the Decade” for the 90’s. Roy Jones Jr. became the first former middlewight champion in 106 years to go on and take the heavyweight title. He has won 10 major world titles and 5 minor world titles. In 1988 he took the silver medal at the Seoul, Korea Olympic games – though it is generally agreed upon that he was robbed of the gold. Jones Jr. has appeared in a few movies and has also released his own albums. Nationality: American Known For: He has won the championship in three different weight classes. “Sugar” Shane Mosley won the 1989 U.S. Amateur Championship, the 1990 U.S. Amatuer Championship and the 1992 U.S. Amatuer Championship before becoming a professional boxer.

Mosley retired in 2012 with a final professional record of 46 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw. 39 of his victories were by knockout. Lennox Lewis (1965 – Present) Nationality: British Known For: Winning the Olympic gold medal in the super heavyweight class in Seoul in 1988. Lennox “The Lion” Lewis was the first British boxer since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1899 to become a world heavyweight champion. After winning Olympic gold, he went professional and won his first 21 bouts in the ring. Lewis retired in 2004 with a final record of 44 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw and 32 wins by knockout. Nationality: American Known For: Winning a total of ten world titles in 6 weight classes. “The Golden Boy,” Oscar De La Hoya, won the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the lightweight division. De La Hoya toppled seventeen world champions during his career and earned an approximate $696 million from pay per view fighting alone. This makes him the highest grossing boxer of all time.

When he retired in 2009, De La Hoya finished with a final record of 39 wins and 6 losses. Nationality: American Known For: Being undefeated at 45 – 0 as of October, 2013. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. received much of his training from his father who was also a professional boxer. To date, Mayweather, Jr. has won 8 world titles as well as the lineal championship within 4 separate weight classes. He is currently ranked as the top pound for pound boxer on the planet by Sports Illulstrated, Fox Sports, Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Nationality: Filipino Known For: Winning several world boxing champion titles in 8 separate weight divisions. Manny Pacquiao holds ten world titles and was also the first boxer to be victorious in the lineal championship in 4 different weight divisions. The Boxing Writers Association of America honored Pacquiao with the title of “Fighter of the Decade” in the 2000’s. He currently has a record in professional boxing of 54 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws. 38 of his victories were knockouts.

Nationality: American Known For: Defeating Manny Pacquiao in a controversial fight in 2012. Since becoming a professional boxer, Timothy Bradley has remained undefeated and currently stands at 31 – 0 as of October, 2013. Bradley has held the World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council titles. His victory over Manny Pacquiao is widely regarded as a mistake by the judges as Pacquiao clearly won seven of the twelve rounds and had landed more punches with more accuracy. Nationality: Mexican Known For: Winning the WBC middleweight title in 2011. The son of famed Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr., he is often called “The Son of the Legend.” He began his professional boxing career at just 17 years old. Over the ten years that he has now been boxing, Chavez, Jr. has only lost one of his 50 fights and has racked up 32 KOs.

Question: How was boxer Walker Smith better known?
Answer: SUGAR RAY ROBINSON